Virginia Tech (6-3, 3-2 ACC) will look to get back to its winning ways when it travels to Miami Gardens, Fla., for a key ACC battle with 14th-ranked Miami (7-1, 3-1 ACC) Saturday night at Sun Life Stadium. First place is on the line in the Coastal Division for this 7:06 p.m. kick-off as Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe will have the call for ESPN.

The Series
• Saturday’s game will be the 31st football meeting between Virginia Tech and the University of Miami with Miami holding an 18-12 lead in the series. The two schools first met on the gridiron during the 1953 season, continuing on as members of the Big East Conference and now as members of the ACC.
• After Tech won three games in a row (2009-11), the Hurricanes won last year in Miami Gardens, 30-12. Prior to last year, the Hokies held on for a wild 38-35 win in Blacksburg (2011), won 31-17 in Miami to clinch the Coastal Division in 2010 and pulled away for a 31-7 win in 2009 at a rain-soaked Lane Stadium when both were ranked in the AP top 10.

At Sun Life Stadium
• This will be the eighth time Virginia Tech will play in the stadium now known as Sun Life Stadium with the Hokies holding just a 2-5 overall mark (1-2 vs. Miami).
• Tech is 11-23 under head coach Frank Beamer at current NFL stadiums, losing seven games in a row.

Hokies at Home
• Tech features seven players from Florida, including four from the Miami area. Mark Leal (Greenacres), Luther Maddy (Delray Beach) and Dadi Nicolas (Delray Beach) all went to Atlantic High, while true freshman Kalvin Cline is from nearby Boca Raton.
• Demitri Knowles is from Freeport, Grand Bahama, a short 50-minute flight to Miami, and is expected to have quite a cheering section of friends and family for the game.

Strong In The ACC And In November
• Virginia Tech is an impressive 60-17 in ACC games since joining the league in 2004.
• The Hokies are 41-8 against ACC Coastal Division teams and 29-9 in ACC road games. Tech is also 19-4 in ACC road games against Coastal Division opponents.
• The Hokies have posted a 29-5 record in the month of November (27-5 in ACC games) since 2004, when they joined the conference.

Frequent Flyer Miles
• A week after flying 1,154 miles round trip from Roanoke to Bedford, Mass., Tech will fly 1,520 miles round trip from Roanoke to Ft. Lauderdale for its game against Miami, totalling 2,674 miles in the air in eight days.
• It marks the first time Tech has had to do a north-south road trip in back-to-back weeks since 2008 when it went to Boston College (L) and Florida State (L).

The Last Time …
• Virginia Tech beat a ranked AP team on the road was Nov. 26, 2011, a 38-0 win at No. 24 Virginia when Tech was ranked sixth in the country.
• Virginia Tech beat a ranked AP team on the road when not ranked was Oct. 2, 2010, a 41-30 win at No. 23 NC State.
• Virginia Tech beat a top-15 AP team on the road was Nov. 18, 2006, a 27-6 win at No. 14 Wake Forest when Tech was ranked 19th in the country.
• Virginia Tech beat a top-15 AP team on the road when not ranked was Oct. 7, 1989, a 12-10 win at No. 9 West Virginia. This is the only time it’s happened in program history.

Looking to Buck the Trend
• Virginia Tech is 15-38 all-time on the road against AP top-25 opponents (14-20 under Beamer) and 4-28 against top-15 opponents (4-13 under Beamer). Miami is 14th in both major polls this week.
• When unranked, like it will be Saturday, Virginia Tech is 3-30 all-time on the road against AP top-25 opponents (2-13 under Beamer) and 1-23 against top-15 opponents (1-9 under Beamer).

When Miami’s Ranked At Home
• This will be the 10th time Virginia Tech will play at Miami (either in the Orange Bowl or what’s now called Sun Life Stadium) when the Hurricanes are ranked in the top 25. In those games, Tech is 3-6. When unranked, Tech is 0-4. It will be the eighth time the Hokies will play at Miami when the Hurricanes are ranked in the top 15. In those games, Tech is 1-7. When unranked, Tech is 0-4.

Tweet It Out
A few game notes in 140 characters or less

This will be the 31st meeting between @VT_Football and @HurricaneSports with the ‘Canes holding an 18-12 edge in the series.

This will be the eighth time Tech will play in Sun Life Stadium with the #Hokies holding just a 2-5 overall mark (1-2 vs. Miami).

Virginia Tech is 11-23 under head coach Frank Beamer at current #NFL stadiums, losing seven games in a row.